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A BRIEF PLEA 


AN AMBULANCE SYSTEM 


FOR THE 


ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, 


AS DRAWN FROM TITE EXTRA SUFFERINGS OF THE LATE LIEUT. 
BOWDITCH AND A WOUNDED COMRADE. 


Ba 


HENRY I. BOWDITCH, M. D. 


PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL MEDICINE IN HARVARD COLLEGE, 


BOSTON: 
Cun IN Chit. AN eo. Bt BW IDS; 


1863. 

















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Richard Barksdale Harwell 


A BRIEF PLEA 


AN AMBULANCE SYSTEM 


FOR THE 


ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, 


AS DRAWN FROM THE EXTRA SUFFERINGS OF THE LATE LIEUT. 
BOWDITCH AND A WOUNDED COMRADE. 


BY 


HENRY I. BOWDITCH, M. D. 


PROFESSOR OF CLINICAL MEDICINE IN HARVARD COLLEGE, 


BOS FO Re 
TICKNOR AND FIHLODS, 


1863. 


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To tHe Loyat anp HumAne Hearts or NortHeRN MEN AND 


WomMEN. 


Some extra copies of this Plea for an Ambulance System in the 
United States Armies, are printed from an Appendix to a Valedic- 
tory Address, delivered before a Class of Medical Students. 

I know of no other way, in which any man can fully act up to 
the duties of the hour, than by a faithful expression, in thought and 
action, of whatever his mind or his hands may find to do towards 
assisting the country and our brave army in their present trials. 

Providentially, as I deem it, I have been twice brought to know 
the wretched want of system now existing in the arrangements for 
taking care of the wounded on the field of battle, viz: — during 
my visit to Centreville, in September last, and from the dying 
statements of my son. 

I am fully sensible of the imperfections of this appeal to the 
men and women of the North. I make it, however, under a solemn 
sense of responsibility. I should be faithless to what I deem a 
high trust, were I to allow any fear of making an imperfect state- 
ment to deter me, and, on that account, should keep silence. 

Let me earnestly appeal to all loyal and humane hearts to look 
into this matter for themselves, and then, I am sure, something will 
be done. 

The responsibility for allowing these evils to continue, rests 
with you. I pray you not to fail of using your most active exer- 
tions to overcome them. 

HENRY I. BOWDITCH. 

















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A BRIEF PLEA 


For an Ambulance System for the Army of the United 
States, as drawn from the extra sufferings of the late 
Lieut. Bowditch and a wounded comrade. 


The foregoing address is printed, as will be seen by 
the annexed correspondence, in accordance with the 
wishes of the Graduating Medical Class of Harvard 
College, as expressed in its vote of March 11, 1863. 
The publication has been delayed, in consequence of 
my journey to the camp of the First Massachusetts Cav- 
alry, to bring home the dead body of my eldest son, 
who had Galtent while leading a charge in this war for 
free institutions, and for liberty. 

I little thought that, in less than one week from the 
hour at which I, in a few words, at the conclusion of 
my address, begged of the earnest youths, then before 
me, to do everything they could to alleviate the suffer- 
ings of the sick and wounded soldiers, I should have 
presented to me the terrible thought that my own son 
would, -perhaps, need the care of stranger surgeons 
and soldiers for his own relief in his dying hour. 

Since his death, I think that I stand in different, 
and, may I not say? somewhat wider relations, than 


6 


those I enjoyed from the teacher's chair. Resting as 
I now do under the solemn cloud-shadow of a great 
but benignant sorrow, I hope that some words I may 
now write, will reach beyond the confines of my 
profession, and touch other human intellects and 
hearts, — intellects and hearts of men and women, 
who will have influence upon those in power, and 
who will, with me, endeavor to persuade our leaders to 
do simple justice toward every wounded soldier in the 
armies of the United States. 

May I not believe that now I can, of myself, exert a 
greater moral influence upon those in power, and that 
I can now do something — as all my previous efforts 
seem to have been vain — toward persuading the 
authorities to take some measures, that will secure to 
our wounded soldiers the Nation’s fostering care, from 
the first moment of their fall upon the bloody field, 
until they arrive in our well supplied and most excel- 
lent hospitals. 

This is not the case at present; for, under the want 
of all proper arrangements by the Government, a 
wounded soldier is liable to be left to suffer, and die, it 
may be, on the battle-ground, without the least attention, 
save what common humanity would lead one soldier to 
bestow upon a comrade. 

This happens, first, because Congress steadily refuses 
to establish any definite and efficient Ambulance Corps 
in the armies of the Republic; second, because the 
War Department declines to do anything in the prem- 
1S€S. 

As an illustration of, and in addition to what has 
been already published by others, as well as by my- 


7 


self,* I beg leave to state that Lieut. Bowditch, having 
been mortally wounded, in the first charge made after 
leaving Kelly’s Ford, lay helpless on the ground, for 
some time, by the side of his dead horse. ‘Two sur- 
geons saw him, but they evidently had no means for 
carrying off the wounded officer, and it is believed no 
one connected with an Ambulance Corps ever approached 
him there.t 

A stranger horseman, — probably from the Rhode 
Island forces, — finally assisted him to get into a sad- 
dle ; and he rode off, leaning over the neck of the ani- 
mal, —a terrible mode of proceeding, considering his 
severe wound in the abdomen. All this happened 
when he was in the rear of our victorious army, or, in 
other words, at just the place and time, at which a 
thorough Ambulance Corps should have been busily 
at work, seeking out, and relieving, with every means a 
great Government should have had at its disposal, the 
wretched and, perhaps, dying sufferers. But what, in 
reality, does the Government do to meet such an emer- 
gency? It provides a carriage, which a perfectly 
healthy man would find exceedingly uncomfortable 
to drive in, even for a few miles, and one driver, some- 
times not the most humane: ‘There are, also, I doubt 
not, various articles of surgical dressings, etc., for the 
wounded ; but these articles are generally far in the 


* Appendix A. 

+ Three days after the fight, I heard several staff officers, — one of whom, 
certainly, was a surgeon, — talk, not as if they approved of the fact, but as 
if it were a matter of course, — saying that they “thought” a flag of truce 
ought to be sent over the river, to see to our wounded, many of whom were 
then, as they believed, still lying on the field! 


8 


rear of the army. The United States Government did 
not then, and never does, provide any men, whose duty 
it is to hasten to meet and to relieve these hours of 
poignant suffering. After Lieut. Bowditch arrived at 
the ambulance carriage, there was no water to be 
found in the casks, connected with it, although, by law, 
there should have been. The driver was wholly igno- 
rant of the names of those whom he was carrying. He 
actually, and in answer to a direct question from Col. 
Curtis, denied that Lieut. Bowditch was one of them. 
He did not get any water for the Lieutenant and his 
still more suffering comrade, although both longed and 
asked for it! A wretched and dying Sergeant begged 
much for it, and in vain! Had it not been for the kind- 
ness of Col. Curtis, who, after much difficulty, found 
out where my son was, no water would probably have 
been procured for either of the parched sufferers. As 
it was, it arrived at last, too late for the Sergeant, who 
was so much exhausted as to be unable to avail him- 
self of the cup, finally proffered him by his wounded 
comrade. 

I mention these shortcomings, as I deem them, of the 
Administration and of Congress, with great reluctance, 
and without a trace of any feeling, save of sorrow. A 
few months ago, when treating of this same subject, I 
felt, and may have, at times, expressed, indignation, — 
not an unrighteous one, however, I hope,—at such 
neglect. Now, with the solemn memories of the past 
few weeks resting on me, I am sure that all will be- 
lieve that sadness, not anger, must be uppermost in 
my mind. But. I would fain plead, with all the earn- 
estness a stricken father might be supposed to have, 


9 


when in sight of the mangled dead body of a darling, 
first-born son, that such enormities, as are now liable to 
happen, under the present want of any proper ambulance 
system in the United States army, shall not be permitted 
hereafter. 

So far as the ensuing summer campaign is to be 
considered, it is already too late to do anything. The 
Senate of the United States, under the leadership of 
the Chairman of its Military Committee —an honorable 
Senator from Massachusetts — refused, a few days be- 
fore the late Congress adjourned, to concur in the 
passage of a bill, previously passed, unanimously, by 
the House of Representatives. I am not an advocate 
of any particular bill or special plan. I only ask for 
some system. ‘The Senate considered the plan pro- 
posed ‘‘impracticable,” and therefore declined doing 
anything! * If all things were managed by mortals, 
according to such a mode of reasoning, very little 
progress would be made, very little humanity be prac- 
tised, in this world. The Senate and Government of 
this free people, decline to do for its citizen volunteer sol- 
diery, what every despot of Europe carefully looks after, 
with reference to his conscripts or his hirelings! 

Some have asked, ‘‘ But does not the Government 
do all it can? What do you want?” My reply is, 
a corps of detailed soldiers, or, what may be deemed 
better, a corps of honest, brave, and humane men, en- 
listed for this special duty, is needed. Such a corps 
exists in every army in Europe. I have now before 
me a pamphlet devoted solely to giving an account of 
the French and English ambulance systems. From it 
I will quote the following table : 


2 * Appendix B. 


10 











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UNIVERSITY OF 
ILLINOIS LIBRARY 


12 


The pamphlet from which this table is taken is one 
of 70 pages octavo, and is written by Mons. Boudin, 
Chief Physician of the Military Hospital at Boule, 
Paris.* 

From the table, the reader will see the number of: 
officers and men and apparatus, connected with 7 
ambulance service of the French army. 

That service, it appears, is capable of being divided 
so that a certain portion of its effective force and sup- 
plies can be readily selected, at a short notice, for any 
number of regiments or brigades, &c. 

The United States, doubtless, provides freely of sup- 
plies, but it steadily refuses to have any drilled corps 
to administer these supplies, in the most humane and 
most efficient manner. All is left, in a great measure, 
to chance ! 

A chance man carried Lieut. Bowditch from the 
field. Nothing scarcely was known until Col. Curtis 
sought for and found him, in the last carriage. The 
driver knew not whom he was carrying, though both 
of the wounded men were fully able to report their 
names and regiments. He had shamefully neglected 
to have water in his vehicle, or to get it for the suf- 
ferers, when one of them earnestly asked for it. 

It may appear an absurdity to a military man, that 
a civilian should pretend to have any opinion upon the 
subject. But it seems to me that our immense armies 
need a corps of men for these special duties, of looking 


* Systeme des Ambulances des Armées Francaise et Anglaise; Instructions 
qui réglent cette branche du service administratif et medical, par M. Boudin, 
Officier de la Legion d’ Honneur, Medicin en chef de l Hospital Militaire du 
Boule. Avec trois planches. Paris: J. B. Bailliere. 1855. 


13 


_after the wounded soldier, as much as we need a special 
surgical corps, special paymasters, a special engineer 
corps, special men for cavalry, infantry, artillery ser- 
vice, &c. Certainly, the object is sufficiently great and 
humane. When thousands of men are inevitably to be 
wounded, it would seem to be perfectly suicidal in the 
Government, even in a selfish point of view, not to 
have a corps enlisted or detailed, to save as many as 
can be saved. <As it is now, if a soldier be once 
put even temporarily, hors du combat, it would seem 
as if the Government were wholly indifferent whether 
he lived or died. 

Again, by having such a corps, the number of com- 
batants would not be so rapidly lessened, as it is now, 
by several men taking one wounded from the field.* 

Such an ambulance corps. should consist of able- 
bodied, brave men, —men not. afraid to go to the front 
to save a fallen fellow-man. ‘They should have a dis- 
tinctive uniform. Arrangements might be concluded 
whereby the ambulance corps, in both armies, should 
be considered as the laws of war usually regard pickets, 
that is, as not to be molested in their specific duties, save 
perhaps, under extraordinary circumstances. Doubt- 
less, many of such a body would fall, but it would be 
from random shots, and not from the voluntary barbar- 
ism of either army. It would. be a brave, and noble, 
Christian death. Such a corps should take its place 
near the battle-field. It should be well trained to 
march, immediately to raise and carry off the wounded 


* One surgeon told me he saw eight men carrying off one wounded soldier ! 
Four were bearers — and four were intended for ‘‘ relief” — and were walking 
by the hill, doing nothing. Few if any of these men returned to their posts. 


14 


with the least suffering possible. It could attend to 
minor points of surgery, and act as nurses, or cooks on 
the field, in tent, and in hospital, &c. Is it too much 
to hope that, at some future day, similar corps, from any 
two belligerent armies, will, under certain restrictions, 
be allowed to mingle together, upon the field, more im- 
mediately after the termination of a battle, than is now 
allowed? If, by mutual agreement between two con- 
tending parties, this object could be gained, a vast 
amount of evtra suffering would be prevented, and, 
doubtless, many lives saved. There are hundreds of 
details, that might be named, in which such a corps 
would be invaluable. Every great European nation 
has such, in its armies, thoroughly trained. Why can- 
not we have such ? . 

There is no valid reason. On the contrary, I have 
good reason for believing that it is the arbitrary will of 
one mind, and to which even Senators bow, that has 
prevented all action. Many persons have vainly ap- 
pealed to the President. The Medical Societies of some 
of the large States have appealed to him, and to the 
War Department. Committees, and private citizens of 
New York and Boston have earnestly asked of Con- 
egress, of General Halleck, and of Mr. Stanton, to do 
something. All efforts, thus far, have been fruitless. 

I now make one’ more appeal, but this time not to 
any one man, or to Congress, but to our Imperial 
‘‘ Cesar,” the People! The People must take this 
matter into its own hands, and compel the Government 
to look fairly at the whole subject. 

The people are willing their sons should dedicate 
their young, heroic lives to this Holy War, this Blossom- 


- 


15 


ing-out of Centuries. We have, even in our bereave- 
ment at their death, a certain triumphant joy, if they, as 
instruments of High Heaven, be accounted worthy to 
be martyrs in so sacred a cause. But we have a right 
to demand that they shall not be needlessly tortured, or 
thrown aside, like their own wounded steeds, to die per- 
haps by the wayside, for want of proper care from our 
Government. If any government under Heaven ought 
to be paternal, the United States authority, deriving, as 
it does, all its powers from the people, should surely be 
such, and should dispense that power, in full streams of 
benignant mercy upon its soldiers, when wounded in its 
defence. 

I look forward, with dismay, at the evtra suffering 
that may fall on thousands of the splendid youths, now 
in our army, during the ensuing summer campaign. 
Fortunately for the Army of the Potomac, as long ago 
as August last, General McClellan established a certain 
ambulance system of detailed soldiers, and under the 
enlightened suggestions of Dr. Letterman, Medical Di- 
rector of the same army, I learn that much good was 
accomplished by it after the Fredericksburg fight. But 
the facts of my son’s case have proved that the arrange- 
ments of the Army of the Potomac are still imperfect, 
and there are other armies, in which not even this im- 
perfect system exists. J am authorized to state as the 
deliberate opinion of General McClellan himself, that 
the arrangements in vogue in the Army of the Potomac, 
while he was in command, might still be improved, he 
does not consider that by any means as complete.* It 


* Appendix C. See letter from General McClellan. 


16 


was evidently introduced to meet a want, not radically 
to supply the deficiency. I rejoice however, to think 
that, under the present enlightened chieftain of the 
brave army, thus alluded to, Major-General Hooker, 
aided by members of his professional staff, an immense 
amount of suffering will be prevented. But this 
statement only brings out into bolder relief the utter 
chaos, that exists almost everywhere else along our 
lines ; a chaos only relieved by the fact that man’s suf- 
ferings, the world over, always appeal to man. The 
wounded soldier will be taken some care of, even when 
forsaken by his government ! | 

Let me not be misunderstood, I claim to be intensely 
loyal to this Administration. It 1s the government 
of my choice, I have been striving to get such a goy- 
ernment, for over twenty years. I will ever do what I 
can to sustain it. But it will never do for me, with my 
views of honorable loyalty to a government, to keep out 
of sight such plain shortcomings on the part of those 
in power. More especially, do I feel called upon to 
speak and write plainly on this subject, because I be- 
lieve that all that is really wanted is an enlightened 
public sentiment upon the matter. When that comes 
the Government will, of course, be compelled to attend 
to it. Let me not therefore be considered disloyal, 
when, while endeavoring to enlighten the people, 
I would also strive to make the Government, truly 
noble, generous, and humane, in this department of its 
administration. ‘Those individuals are the really dis- 
loyal, who would check such endeavors. 

I care, however, very little what interpretation may 
be put upon my conduct at the present time and in the 


17 


past, but I wish it fairly understood that I cannot do 
otherwise, and be true to the instincts, implanted in me 
as I believe, by God, for my guidance. Such being the 
fact, I shall always, on all proper and perhaps, on what, 
some may deem, improper occasions, continue to urge 
upon the public and upon the Government attention to 
this matter. 

In conclusion, let me, therefore, earnestly appeal to 
every man and woman in this country, to do his or her 
share toward bringing about a better state of things. 
Let the hapless sufferings and bleeding forms of 
thousands of our noblest youth, wounded or slain in 
this holy war for the Republic’s Life, and for human 
liberty, plead for this cause. Let every one, who has 
a friend now in the army, remember what that loved 
one may be called upon to endure, in consequence of 
this culpable neglect of those now in power. Every 
one of you has some influence. Let that influence, 
however great or trivial it may seem to yourself, be 
brought to bear, either by letter or by personal con- 
versation, upon every member of the Government, the 
President and his Cabinet, and Senators and Repre- 
sentatives. Let the press be made to speak. The 
blessings of ‘‘ him who is ready to perish,” will fall 
like Heaven’s own dew upon your hearts, if ye steadily 
and faithfully pursue this subject, and do your share 
toward its perfect accomplishment. 





Even at this very hour, while these pages are pass- 
ing through the press, the moans of thousands of our 


dying youth have been rising from the battle-fields of 
- | 


18 


Fredericksburg, begging each one of you to do your 
duty to them; and demand of our Senators that they 
shall no longer decline to do anything toward estab- 
lishing some ambulance system in the armies of the 
Republic. - Do not, I beg of you, believe that Massa- 
chusetts has done all her duty in this particular. On 
the contrary, she stands convicted of the fact that one 
Senator reported against a bill, and the other stood by 
at the time, and said not one word to prevent the atro- 
cious neglect of a most plain duty on the part of Govy- 
ernment. Our present State Executive has urged this 
subject, again and again, upon the President and those 
in power, but all in vain. Both Senators from Massa- 
chusetts are either dumb, or in open opposition to all 
action in the premises. 

I am well aware that, when the cause itself rises, by 
its magnitude, far above all special individual rela- 
tions, any personal remarks are usually to be avoided. 
There are times, however, when justice and humanity 
demand them, as in the prophetic days of old. I 
come as no prophet, but simply as a man, and while 
thus singling out the Massachusetts Senators, I do so 
from no other motive than to bring, more forcibly, 
to the minds and hearts of the loyal North, the gross 
dereliction of duty, evinced by every Senator from the 
Free States. 

Henry [. Bownircu. 


Boylston Street, May 22, 1863. 


A ga i eS Wo lb 


A 


The following are Reports of Drs. Stedman and Bowditch, 
who went with an ambulance train to the battle-field at Cen- 
treville. They are taken from Dr. Gay’s Report to the War 
Committee of Ward IV. In introducing them, Dr. Gay says: 

‘‘'The statements in reference to the ambulance drivers de- 
mand universal action to instantly correct this brutal custom.” 


Dr. Grorce H. Gay: — 


Dear Sir, —I beg to submit the following as a report of my 
experience during my late visit to the battle-field near Fairfax 
Court House, Va. 

At 10 o’clock, Sept. 5, 1862, a message came to ‘* Willard’s,” 
in Washington, from Surgeon-General Hammond, that two 
surgeons were much needed at a spot between Fairfax Court 
-House and Centreville, where many soldiers lay wounded and 
starving. Dr. Bowditch and myself immediately volunteered 
our services, and at 11 Pp. M., we started in a train of fifty ambu- 
lances for the scene of suffering. The distance to be travelled was 
about twenty-two miles. The halts on the way were numer- 
ous, and some were prolonged most unnecessarily, as it seemed 
to us. The horses were stout, the weather cool till after sunrise, 
and then warm, but the heat not exhausting. At the end of 
the journey we were to find men dying from starvation and neg- 
lect of surgical attendance ; and yet the horses must be allowed 
to walk a great portion of the way, and be watered every few 
miles, while the freight of each wagon was light. Beyond all 
example, the driver of the ambulance, in which it was my lot 
to ride, was the most vulgar, ignorant, and profane man I ever 


20 


came in contact with. But in contrast with him, the driver of 
the ambulance in which I returned, was one of the most 
humane men. He had been a soldier in the regular army for 
nine years — had been wounded in one of our earliest battles — 
and since his recovery had been employed as Government team- 
ster. On the wagon-master’s command to him to drive faster, 
and keep up with the ambulances ahead of ours, he remon- 
strated, saying the men in his wagon were suffering intolerably 
already, and he did not intend to make them suffer more if he 
could prevent it. His expressions of sympathy were frequent, 
and doubtless afforded some consolation to the wounded. One 
or two other driyers, who came under my notice, behaved them- 
selves with becoming humanity and gentleness in their assist- 
ance of the sufferers; though, as a body, these drivers were 
such as would disgrace, it may be, any menials ever sent out to 
the aid of the sick and wounded. ‘The wagon-masters them- 
selves, of whom we expected better things, were not overborne, 
apparently, by any deep sentiments of compassion for the suf- 
ferers. I noticed that in going to the battle-field they took no 
pains to hasten on the train. On the contrary, as before said, 
the halts were too frequent and prolonged. But in returning, 
though admonished by the groans of the soldiers, which were 
continuous from one end of the train to the other, they often 
urged the teamsters to drive faster. 

On arriving at our place of destination, lying about on the 
grass or in an old house and ats out houses, we found about one 
hundred and fifty soldiers, suffermg from gunshot wounds of 
every description, inflicted five or six days before. Two had 
been shot through the lungs ; one through both thighs and scro- 
tum; some through the abdomen. In short, no part of the 
body had escaped. our surgeons of the army were in attend- 
ance; but from want of food and sleep they were nearly ex- 
hausted ; and being unable to perform but little duty, they request- 
ed me to remove some limbs, which operations were necessary to 
the more favorable transportation of the wounded to Washing- 


21 


ton. These were an amputation of the thigh, for a wound of 
the knee-joint and compound fracture of the former ; and an am- 
putation of an arm, for compound fracture and extensive lacera- 
tion at elbow-joint. 

And here let me notice the kind and assiduous attention to his 
wounded, of Dr. Joseph W. Hastings, Assistant-Surgeon, 21st 
Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, who was indefatigable in 
his service to all under his care. It was evident that his readi- 
ness, gentleness, and quiet cheerfulness, as well as skill and ca- 
pacity, had won the gratitude of his regiment. I would not de- 
preciate the merits of the other surgeons at this station. I speak 
thus of Dr. Hastings only because of my more frequent oppor- 
tunities of witnessing his conduct. 

On the following morning, after dressing many wounds, I 
accompanied Dr. H. to the rebel hospital, about four miles 
farther, on the Warrenton road, for the purpose of removing 
Capt. Kelton, of the 21st Regiment, whose thigh had been 
amputated by Dr. Miller, the rebel surgeon. We found four of 
our soldiers there, and about seventy-five wounded rebels, lying 
on the hay in a very comfortable stone barn. I observed that 
the medicines and surgical appliances used there had Philadelphia 
labels. Had they been captured, stolen, or smuggled? Our 
men expressed themselves gratified with the attention they had 
received from the rebel doctor; for which I could do no less 
than thank him. We then placed Capt. K. in the ambulance, 
and returned to our hospital. 

In the afternoon we loaded the ambulances with the wounded, 
and at 4% o’clock started for Washington, which, after a night of 
horror, made such by the cries and groans of the sufferers, the 
drunkenness, profanity, and inhumanity of the drivers, we 
reached about four o’clock the next morning. ‘The men were 
deposited in the various hospitals in the city, and at noon I 
found some of them, those two especially upon whom I had 
operated, contented and cheerful as possible under the circum- 
stances. 

I shall never forget the anxiety with which I watched for t h 


22 


safety of those two men. But one ligature had been required 
in securing the artery in the thigh. Suppose from the constant 
jolting of the wagon, or from any other cause, that ligature 
should have come off; or that such should have been the case 
with the man whose arm had been lost, how could life have been 
saved? No one ambulance would have been allowed to stop, 
as the whole train would have then been compelled to wait, and 
the sufferings of all the other wounded would have been increased 
or prolonged. Thank Heaven no such accident occurred, and I 
hope no one was permanently afflicted by this sad journey. 

It will appear from this narration that our expedition to Vir- 
ginia was not unattended with good results to those whose dis- 
tresses we were called on to succor. For my own part, I feel 
that should the sad opportunity again offer itself, the experience 
I have thus gained would avail for a more satisfactory service 
than any before rendered. 

Respectfully, your friend and servant, 
C. H. Srepman. 


At a meeting of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, 
held Sept. 22, 1862, Dr. Bowditch remarked as follows : 

‘¢ I desire to bring before the Society a subject of great im- 
portance to the future welfare of our wounded soldiers ; although, 
at first sight, it may not seem exactly appropriate for a meeting 
of this Society. 

‘¢ During my recent visit to Washington with other physicians, 
summoned there by the Secretary of War, I was brought imme- 
diately in contact with the abominable system, or rather no 
system, of ambulances now in use in our army. ‘The atrocities 
I saw committed, are, I think, a sufficient reason for bringing 
the subject before you, in order that, either by the individual 
effort of the members, or by the united action of the Society, 
public opinion may be made so strong as to force the Govern- 
ment to devise some plan more in accordance with common 
humanity, and more truly military in its discipline. 


23 


*¢ On the evening of Friday, Sept. 5, at the request of the 
surgeon-general, I joined an ambulance train that was just 
starting to go to the relief of our starving and wounded men, 
near Centreville. There was a train of fifty carriages. I sub- 
sequently learned that three of the drivers, afraid of entering 
the enemy’s lines, escaped with their ambulance wagons before 
we reached Long Bridge. This was easily accomplished, as 
there was no escort ; and, @s it subsequently appeared, no power 
to prevent such an event. It is true that an army-surgeon 
accompanied and gave general directions to the train, but he was 
in the first wagon, and could not know what was doing towards 
the end of the long train. I soon perceived that the drivers 
were men of the lowest character, evidently taken from the 
vilest purlieus of Washington, merely as common drivers, and 
for no other qualification. Their oaths were flaunted forth 
without the least regard to the presence of superiors, and 
with a profusion that was really remarkable, even in the vicinity 
of Washington. The driver of my ambulance became sleepy 
as the night wore on, and as his zigzag course over a Virginia 
road was rather perilous, and as he informed me that he had 
been overturned a few weeks previously, I thought it more pru- 
dent to drive myself, rather than to allow him to do so. While 
the moon was up, this was comparatively easy. He accordingly 
slept inside of the carriage until 3 or 4 A. M.; he then reluc- 


tantly again took the reins, because I was unwilling, owing to — 


the darkness, to drive further. His whole deportment during 
the night showed a disregard for everything save his own com- 
fort. 

‘¢ Karly in the forenoon, however, appeared on the part of 
the drivers of nearly one half the train, a total want of disci- 
pline, and a forgetfulness of the object and character of our 
mission, that seemed to me atrocious. . Suddenly, I perceived 
one half of the train was stopping, and all the drivers leaving 
their carriages, rushed into an adjacent field, and there spent 
some minutes in stoning and shaking the trees in an apple and 


ee 


24 


peach orchard ; and all this in the presence of part of the fam- 
ily of a Virginia planter! These individuals made no resist- 
ance. They apparently thought it would be of no use; for 
over all this road had the two armies swept again and again. 
In vain I pleaded that we were breaking the sacredness of the 
flag of truce, — that we richly deserved death for plundering 
private property. In vain I urged the inhumanity of leaving 
our suffering, starving soldiers, in order to fill their own greedy 
stomachs. I appealed to one of the three leaders who rode on 
horseback, and pretended to be the leaders of the train. He 
only smiled a smile of ineffable contempt, and munched his 
stolen apple with perfect nonchalance. Meanwhile the flag of 
truce was lost afar off in the distance, and our party was 
obliged to drive, for some time, with great rapidity in order to 
overtake it. Just as my carriage: started, a heavy stone struck 
it not very far from my head. It had evidently been hurled, 
and justly hurled, at us for our infamous conduct. I remarked 
that hereafter I should know why our ambulances were fired 
upon by the enemy. ‘The only answer I obtained was an oath. 

‘¢ About mid-day we arrived, and found our men im a most 
piteous condition, lying everywhere, inside and outside of every 
building connected with a small farm-house. The negro-quar- 
ters was a palace,—the manure-heap was a soft bed. The 
fairest place was under a wide-spreading tree. I found the 
drivers did not feel it to be their duty to help the sufferers, but 
sulked, or swore, or laughed, as it pleased each. On the fol- 
lowing morning, it is true, I did persuade my own driver to 
bring to me water, as I was dressing the wounds of the soldiers ; 
but it was difficult even to get that, and he aided me because I 
asked him to do so, and not because he had any heart in the 
work. 

‘¢Qn Saturday, P. M., we started for Washington, — all 
the sick having been arranged in different ambulances, under 
charge of various surgeons. That night I shall never forget. © 
I had taken one of those most severely wounded under my own 


25 


special charge. ‘The ball had passed into his chest, and caused 
intense difficulty of breathing. He was a German, and one of 
the most uncomplaining of sufferers; and his broken words of 
gratitude for the slightest token of kindness, were most touch- 
ing. None but a brute could have failed to be kind to him. 
He could lie only on one side, and consequently his head was 
placed directly behind my driver. During the first part of the 
way, I did not think that the driver paid the least attention to 
the road with reference to the comfort of the patient. In early 
night, his tongue ran glibly on in loud, indifferent talk, or the 
vilest profanity, —thus preventing all sleep. As the night 
progressed, I was distressed to find that the whiskey, with 
which he probably had supplied himself, was having its usual 
soporific effect, and he fell back upon the panting form of my 
patient. 1 lifted him up, and told him I could not allow such 
treatment of the sick man. The only response I got was a 
muttered oath of ‘‘ men complaining,” &c. But it was all in 
vain. Again and again did he fall back, until at last I took 
the reins, and drove most of the night with one hand, while 
with the other I supported this snoring drunkard ! 

‘¢Of course, I repeated all these facts in a letter to the 
Surgeon-General. He assured me that I could not tell him 
anything new — that he had, months since, foretold to the Sec- 
retary of War the horrors, that would occur with such a set of 
wretches as usually were found in a body of ambulance drivers 
—that he had vainly endeavored to obtain some system, but 
there was none now. ‘The whole of the ambulances are under 
the Quartermaster’s department. He (the Surgeon-General, ) 
had not the control of a single carriage. All his efforts had 
been in vain.” 

‘¢T want now,” continued Dr. Bowditch, ‘‘ through this 
Society, to create a public sentiment that will compel the Gov- 
ernment to attend to this matter, and to have a real ambulance 
corps. Dr. Hammond (the Surgeon-General) is not wedded 
to any plan; but he has suggested the appointment of six am- 


26 


bulances to each regiment, and three men to each ambulance, 
viz: one driver and two assistants. The latter would take the 
wounded, in a careful, methodical manner, from the field. 
This would prevent, in some measure, the soldiers from leaving 
their ranks, and would likewise be more humane for the 
wounded. All the corps would be under strict military disci- 
pline. But I repeat, all that is desired is, that some plan be 
adopted. Now all is chaos. J make no motion on this mat- 
ter, but leave these facts before the Society, hoping that they 
will, in some way, tend to relieve our suffering soldiers.” 

Dr. J. Mason Warren moved that Dr. Bowditch be request- 
ed to reduce his remarks to writing, and that the facts be laid 
before the public in the journals of the day. 

Dr. H. W. Williams moved that Dr. Bowditch be a Com- 
mittee to report some plan of address to the Secretary of War, 
to be sent by the physicians of Massachusetts, in furtherance 
of some plan for the establishment of a United States Ambu- 
lance Corps. 

S. L. Asporr, Chairman of Meeting. 

Francis Minor, Secretary. 


27 
B 
Mr. WILson, OF MaAssaCHUSETTS : 

‘<THE Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia, to whom 
was referred the bill (A. R. No. 719,) in relation to Military 
Hospitals and to organize an ambulance corps, have instructed 
me to report it back with a recommendation that it do not pass. 
I will not make the motion for its indefinite postponement, but 
let it go on the table. 

‘¢T will simply say that this bill has passed the House of 
Representatives, and the Committee on Military Affairs have 
considered it with a great deal of care. There is great interest 
in the country in regard to it, but we think it an impracticable 
measure to organize such a corps at this time.” 


[In the Senate, February 24, 1863. ] 
From Washington Globe. 


New Yorn, February 21, 1863. 
Henry I. Bowpitrcn, M. D., Boston. 


My Dear Str: I owe you an apology for my long delay 
in replying to your letter of the 2d, but it was mislaid, and I 
could not conveniently reply without the letter before me. 

You ask me — 

‘1st. Is there at present any uniform ambulance system 
in the army of the United States?” 

There is not, unless quite recently introduced. 

‘¢ 2d. Do you deem any system necessary ? ” 

Clearly so. - I think that any general officer who has served 
with troops in the field will declare such a system as essential, 
not only in regard to the comfort of sick and wounded, but to 
secure efficiency. 





28 


3d. Should the men in the ambulance corps be detailed 
soldiers, taken from time to time from the ranks; or should they 
be men enlisted for the purpose and taught their especial duties ? 

There are many self-evident objections to the system of tak-. 
ing men temporarily from the ranks for this duty: they need 
instructions in their peculiar functions, as well as the ordinary 
discipline, and should have a distinctive uniform. Iam of the 
opinion that men should be enlisted especially for duty in the 
ambulance corps. 

4th. Do you think the establishment of such a corps would 
increase the number of non-combatants ? 

I think it would decrease the number of non-combatants espe- 
cially during battles. 

In conclusion, I would beg to repeat what I have previously 
said to you in substance, that is, that I regard the formation of 
a well organized ambulance corps as one of the great desiderata 
for our armies. : 

Again, expressing my regret that I have so long delayed re- 
plying to your letter, 

I am dear sir, very truly yours, 

GEORGE. B. McCLELLAN, 
Major-General U. S. A. 























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